Pages

Monday, 31 January 2011

January 2011

We're already at the end of January, where did it go?

I thought it was make sense to review January's training and make a vague plan for February.

January was all about getting back into my routine after it was disrupted towards the end of 2010 by a totally unexpected, and painful, bout of shingles. That was followed by an equally painful infection under my wisdom tooth, and then topped off with a few days of flu over Christmas (that's proper flu by the way, the kind that leaves you flat on your back with every part of your body aching). I didn't manage to fit in a single gym session in December and only did half the running mileage of the previous month.

Here is my monthly mileage chart, as you can see my mileage is still very low in comparison to other (real?) runners but I'm generally moving in the right direction. My focus has mainly been on consistency, at first it was one run per week, then two, now it's three - This is outlined in more detail in the 'distance per week' graph further down the page. All considered this is the right place for me to be right now and I can see it staying this way until the evenings are lighter and I can implement my other plan.

In January I didn't really get started until the 9th, when I was back at work after the Christmas break and had a proper routine (and access to the gym) again.

Each day I have around 25 minutes in the gym before work - It's not long but I am trying to make it work. I could get up earlier and have a full 1 hour in the gym but I already have to set my alarm at 5.30am, I'm not quite ready to get up any earlier than that yet - I wouldn't rule it out once we the mornings are lighter and warmer.

Where was I??? Oh yeah, January..

It's been pretty full-on. I've had my best month's mileage (70.2km / 43.5miles) since starting to focus on running rather than just using it as a warm-up in the gym. I've gradually been increasing my weekly mileage and for the past three weeks have broken the 20km mark. I'm happy to report that I have no injuries and that my IT band is coping well - I'm using some specific stretches to try to keep it happy and, although January wasn't great for leg workouts, I am getting in regular leg strength training. Check out my graph for weekly mileage (which goes back to last July) below:

Since reading 'The Competitive Runner's Handbook' I'm starting to understand more about different training speeds and drills, I still have trouble keeping my easy runs within the timings suggested by the McMillan calculator (my training times), I find it easy to drift into the space between 'easy' and 'steady-state' runs. This is something I'll keep working on, I actually managed to keep my run on 30 Jan to within 9 seconds of the suggested pace, so I am making progress.

I still haven't found the time on a Saturday morning to take part in a ParkRun - See my previous post: Here

On my strength training days I feel like I'm playing catch-up. During January I have been getting back into the weight sessions slowly, but I'm happy with how they're going. I'm getting DOMS a day or so after my weights sessions so I know I'm hitting the muscles. I really like the push day / pull day / leg day split, so I am going to stick with it for now. I'd love to do a few whole-body compound workout days, but I'll need a longer session for that.

So here is my daily overview of what January looked like:

So, for February..

- Keep weekly running mileage somewhere in the 20-25km range.- Have one regular interval or fartlek run per week.- Take part in a ParkRun 5km race.- Add in some extra body-weight sessions (lunch break / weekends)- Stick to sensible weights and try to see some progression.- Stay healthy and injury free (I guess that goes without saying)